We met in 8th Grade Spanish class at Peter Kiewit Middle School, but we weren’t that good of friends until high school.  We eventually became best friends junior year and started dating senior year. 

The Proposal (according to Courtney):

After being together for almost four years, Michael proposed July 24, 2005.  I was spending the summer in Rock Island, but I came home for the weekend to see Amber and Cliff.  While I was home, Michael asked me to go out one night.  We went on a date to dinner at Vivace in downtown Omaha and then dessert at the Melting Pot.  Afterward, Michael asked me if I wanted to watch a movie at his house.

When we got there, he said he had to get something out of his car and I should go inside.  When I opened the door, there was a path of roses, rose petals, candles, and notes. The path led to the backyard where there were more candles and Christmas lights, and Michael was there holding a pink rose.  He asked me to sit down, got down on one knee, and yammered on a bit about why I should marry him ;)

The Proposal (according to Michael):

Courtney probably won’t admit it, but I surprised her. I proposed on July 24, 2005, when Amber and Cliff and the whole family were in Omaha. I took Courtney to Vivace, the restaurant in Omaha where we went on our first date. We then had dessert at the Melting Pot, when I suggested that we go back to my house to watch a movie (Note: the movie at home was meant to downplay the night’s significance).

Once at my house, I told her I had to get something out of my trunk and to go ahead into the house.  There she found the notes, candles and rose petals that my parents and I had spent the day setting up. I ran around to the backyard, where more rose petals, luminaries and Christmas lights were set up. I was there holding a pink rose where I did the whole one knee, will you marry me bit.

Was I nervous? Not really. Did I blabber and stutter? Maybe a little. Was it all worth it to see her so happy? No question.

I grew up in Omaha, NE where I spent my childhood playing with Amber, Cliff, and the local neighbors.  I spent a lot of time playing soccer, practicing piano, and dancing ballet.  I eventually quit ballet, traded the piano for the trombone, but played soccer until high school.  I have great memories from all of the teams I played for, especially when my dad coached.  Unfortunately, an injury that culminated in high school made me quit the game, so I began to focus more on playing music. 

Playing trombone led me to attend Augustana College in Rock Island, IL.  I was first drawn to the institution because of their foreign studies programs, but I ultimately went because of their music.  With the band, I have traveled four tours - three national, and one international to the United Kingdom.  One of the greatest gifts was playing with the band at Rejoice! Lutheran Church in Omaha this past tour.  It was a wonderful way to bring part of my Augustana family to my home and end my senior year.  

I am graduating from Augustana with a double major in Religion and Speech Communication and a minor in Asian Studies.  After going on foreign term last year to Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China, I began to have a passion for studying Asia.  I became particularly interested in China - its many different languages, cultures, histories, and religions.  I’m excited to graduate and return to China.  I hope to gain many experiences that will enhance my personal studies and extend into my graduate program.  Next year I will be teaching Freshman English at Central China Normal University in Wuhan, China until June 2007.  Following that year, I will begin graduate school studying Systematic and Philosophical Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA.

I was born in Carmichael, California, and lived in Denver and Colorado Springs before I was four years old. We moved to Omaha in April 1988 where I lived until graduating high school. I was always into sports.  I played soccer, baseball, basketball and golf and could recite John Elway’s statistics before I knew long division. The sports started tapering off as I grew older and I became more interested in journalism. Somewhere along the way I learned people get paid to watch sports and write about them – hence my career choice/passion.   

I started school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in August 2002 and began working at the Daily Nebraskan as a sports writer before classes even stared. Since then I’ve covered football, basketball baseball and other sports. I interned at the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star. Going to UNL was one of the best choices I’ve made and it’s opened plenty of doors for me.  I spent winter break in Sri Lanka comparing the effects of the tsunami to what happened in New Orleans with Katrina. The year before, I spent a semester investigating the legacy of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood on Garden City, Kan., and the people involved in the book.   

I’ll graduate in May with majors in News-editorial journalism and History. Courtney and I will be heading to China in August for 10 months where I’ll hopefully teach a little English, commit a little journalism and see even more of the world. Then it’s off to Berkeley for two years where I hope to land a job writing sports or working for a newspaper in the area.